This invention relates to dispensing from a container on a time schedule and particularly the dispensing of liquids from bottles which require washing between use periods. It is the scheduled dispensing of bottled contents such as pills or liquids with which this invention is concerned. More particularly, milk and the like is to be dispensed from bottles on a time schedule which varies from time to time in the nursing of infants, and often results in going of schedule since the frequency in the hours of nursing are often difficult to maintain through the night, for example when there is a tendency for a person in nursing attendence to be sleepy and not altogether astute with respect to time and what should or should not be done. For example, when a baby sitter or hospital nurse is in attendance of a number of infants, the scheduling and individual feeding requirements of those many infants can become confusing. Also, elderly people have difficulty in remembering when to take prescribed medication. Therefore, it is a general object of this invention to provide a time reminder device incorporated in the cap of a bottle for taking pills and the like, and in the coupling of a bottle for feeding milk and the like.
Caps and couplings for the open ends of containers are subject to contamination when used for dispensing medicinal pills and especially when dispensing liquids used for feeding infants, and all of which requires repeated cleaning in order to maintain sanitary conditions. Heretofore mechanical means incorporated in medicine bottle caps for recording time schedules have been complicated by means which cannot be cleaned satisfactorily. That is, openings, corners, crevases and interstices are present which make it virtually impossible to maintain absolute cleanliness. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a time reminder device in the cap or coupling of a dispensing container or bottle which is devoid of openings, corners, crevases or interstices which are known to collect contaminating debris and foreign matter. With the present invention, the cap or coupling with its time reminder device involves but two parts which snap together and apart with facility through obvious manipulation.
Nursing bottles are characterized by a screw-on coupling that secures a rubber nipple that projects through a top opening with a flange of the nipple acting as a seal between the coupling and bottle neck or opening. The time remainder device of this invention is embodied in a ring that snaps onto and off of the coupling crown where it is calibrated according to the time related to an index position. The parts and elements are simple and inexpensive of manufacture and do not interfere with sanitation in any way, and all parts are readily cleaned in the manner that nursing bottles and nipples and couplings are presently cleaned.